When your garden pond freezes....what do YOU do?

[mjr]

Question directed at those with underwater pumps and pressure filters.
If you have eg a waterfall and the pond freezes then it will effectively empty the pond.
If you switch the pump off then the water in the filter could freeze and crack the case.
Whats your solution.
Last night i switched off and hoped for the best.

Running water doesn't freeze easily, plus the fountain has kept a hole open in the ice through every freeze of the last five winters. Switching it off sounds like a way to ensure problems with the water in any hoses expanding.

 

[colly]

I leave the pump running. The filter stays unfrozen and where the water returns to the pond it remains ice free even if the rest of the pond has iced over.
It dropped to -10 some years ago and the pond was frozen to the depth of about 30mm . Never had a problem and the fish seem fine.

Unfortunately last year one of the bigger fish was hanging about near the top of the water and overnight as thr temperature dropped he got frozen into the ice. He didnt survive.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Worry about all the frogs in it.

The spawn is all frozen in mine. Will the frogs return to replace it?

No. Once they have spawned that's it until next year.

Yay - Frogs are back and spawning well.

Might be different frogs @welsh dragon ?

 

[welsh dragon]

Yay - Frogs are back and spawning well.

Might be different frogs @welsh dragon ?

Yes. Different frogs.

 

[Dave7]

Yay - Frogs are back and spawning well.

Might be different frogs @welsh dragon ?

They should be banned from 'doing that' before the nine O'clock watershed.

 

[mjr]

They should be banned from 'doing that' before the nine O'clock watershed.

Surely any pond is after a watershed?